Tiny Apartments and Condos Proliferate, Solve Affordability Problem

Apartment sizes are shrinking, with new apartments in San Francisco averaging 18% smaller than a decade ago, while units are 22% smaller in Boston, according to Axiometrics, Inc. A number of urban areas in the U.S. are seeing the construction of micro-apartments, typically 300 square feet in size (about the size of a hotel room). CoStar Group reported micro-apartment projects in cities such as San Francisco, Washington, Los Angeles, Boston, New York and Seattle. U.S. rents for the tiny units are considerably less than for standard one-bedroom units, making them attractive to Generation Y renters who are moving out of their parents’ homes for the first time and want to live and work in the heart of urban areas.

U.S. living spaces are typically much larger than those in other countries. However, unit size in congested urban areas such as Hong Kong are shrinking to minute proportions. Furniture has to be made to order. Units this tiny are often referred to as “mosquito” units.

A great business opportunity relating to these tiny apartments is the design, construction and installation of small, convertible multitasking furniture. For example, Resource Furniture resourcefurniture.com offers sofa-wall bed combinations in which beds with proper mattresses and solid bases for comfort can be pulled down to rest on small sofas. The company also makes a variety of space saving furniture, sliding doors and storage options. Other firms specialize in tiny kitchen units, with appliances built-in, or bathroom fixtures.

Internet Research Tip: Apartments

Find out everything you ever wanted to know about apartments at the web site of the highly regarded National Apartment Association, www.naahq.org. Particularly useful are its archive of historical statistics and its commentary on the rental market.

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